


with the flick of a sleeve

by ReverseSirens



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Dragons, F/F, Magic, Only Kiyoko and Hitoka have Dragons, Pre-Slash, Slow Burn, Yachi's big Gay crush on Kiyoko, honestly this is so pure, how could i forget that, i guess since they haven't met till half way through, i hope everyone sees the subtle hints I chucked in about their relationship throughout the story, rated T for the two rude words, really - Freeform, their relationship is so cute, this is more of a gen fic than it is a slash fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 11:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11645961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReverseSirens/pseuds/ReverseSirens
Summary: When she drifts off to sleep that night, her dreams are full of puzzle pieces running around her in circles, confusing her more than she thought possible. From behind those puzzle pieces - or maybe it was from within them - comes out a girl, her hair the colour of liquorice and her eyes a soft grey, a mole on her chin. She’s walking, walking towards Hitoka with her hand stretching out, reaching towards her. Then she disappears, dissolves into thin air and when Hitoka wakes up, her body is hot, fire circling around her in a way it had once done to her four poster.





	with the flick of a sleeve

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for: two rude words at the start of the story, it's safe through the rest of it though.
> 
> I tried dropping hints about how KiyoYachi will end up through the dreams that Hitoka has and just in general.  
> let's see who finds the hints first.
> 
> This took me almost twelve hours to finish but it is done and I am kind of proud of it I guess a little.
> 
> 30,000 yen is around £200.
> 
> Thanks to Jess for reading it and making sure it is acceptable and also for giving the title bc i couldn't come up with anything lol.

When Hitoka first encountered magic, she was four. Her small room that she was sat in the middle of, colouring on the floor, set ablaze the second she heard her mother’s muffled sobs as she stormed in, a loud booming voice shouting after her to, “stop being such a bitch!”. It was her mother’s boss. She never really liked that guy.

“Mummy! Mummy!” she shouted in a panicked voice.

Flames were licking at the curtains on her four poster, curling around the wood and burning off the paint on the walls, leaving it blistered. The drawing she was finishing laid calmly in the middle of it all, waiting for the fire to burn it to ashes and leave behind but a memory of what it once was. Yet the burning never happened. It was stopped as soon as Hitoka ran to her mum in a surge of panic, leading her upstairs and crying into the corner of her elbow while saying that she didn’t mean for it to happen. Her mum had asked what she meant, she stopped as soon as she saw the curled up fabric of the curtains, the blistered walls, but the smell was what really made it sink in.

“Hitoka, baby, how did you do that?” her mum asked in a calm yet rushed voice.

Hitoka sniffled quietly before answering, “I d-don’t know, mummy. I heard you and the bad man walk in and got angry because he was shouting again and you were - you were crying, I don’t like it when mummy cries, then the room got hot and my room was on fire.” she said, never stopping the loud sniffles.

Her mum walked out, a determined look on her face as she said, in a less than pleased voice, “Kaito, I think you should go now.”

When she next came back in, she gave Hitoka a tight smile and walked her over to her bed.

“I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow.”

 

The second time was far less scary for Hitoka.

She was ten, in school she had only one friend because a rumour got out that she didn’t have a dad and everyone thought of her to be the “child of a whore” (according to the adults she overheard, anyway). Regardless of what the adults said, Hitoka never let her mood become negative - even when that girl threw a paper aeroplane at her head. She was an upbeat kind of person even during the most trying times of all.

She was walking home alone - her friend had to go somewhere urgently, said that she couldn’t walk with Hitoka and ran off - when she saw the most horrendous scene she had ever laid eyes upon. Her friend, the one that _always_ had Hitoka’s side was being pushed around by a group of kids from the year above. Hitoka felt the blood in her veins freeze over.

“L-leave her alone!” she screamed in a wavering voice, the demand coming out much weaker than she had anticipated.

The group laughs at her, one of them approaches her in a fast way, feeling that she doesn’t need to be slow and menacing. She was right, her height was enough to make Hitoka feel small and useless.

“What d’you say?” she said as she towered over Hitoka.

Hitoka’s eyes drifted to her friend, to the fear in her eyes and the way she had pleaded silently for Hitoka to go away.

Something akin to an adrenaline rush kicked in right then and Hitoka said, voice just quiet enough to not be seen as a shout, “leave her alone!” determination rushed through her and she felt ice propel out of her and into the ground, just about missing the girls’ feet.

They all rushed off, screaming and tripping while shouting back and calling her a witch.

“H-how?” her friend then asked.

“I don’t know.” she replied simply, smile on her face.

And that was it, the end of the questions. Everything went back to normal after that.

 

It’s the third time that really mattered, though. She hadn’t realised she was doing it, her mum just walked in on her and gasped, her phone dropping to the ground.

Hitoka turned to her, drawing a dragon from the dream she had the night before and minding her own business, when she realised what her mum had gaped at.

Behind Hitoka, coming out of her hair, back and shoulders, in a gas-like form, was a large, pale yellow dragon. Or, the beginning of one.

She screamed and just like that the dragon had disappeared back into Hitoka’s own body.

“Hitoka! I didn’t know you could conjure a dragon!” her mother had squealed happily.

Hitoka was still in shock at what she had done, “but, I-I never knew I could. How did I--?” she stuttered in her usual nervous way, her eyes had blown wide at this point.

“Hitoka, you’re fifteen now, you’re about to go to high school, it’s time you know that you’re a witch.” her mother said in such a casual way that Hitoka, in a state of confusion, just kept staring at her.

Then the words sank in, “what do you mean, ‘I’m a witch’?” she said hurriedly.

“Don’t freak out, Hitoka.”

“I can’t not freak out! I just found out I’m a witch - I just found out witches are real! - and you say not to freak out?! Do you not understand what you just told me?!” her breathing was becoming more and more laboured with every word that flew from her mouth.

“Hitoka!” her mum said sharply.

Hitoka stopped dead in her tracks, looked at her mum and saw a concerned look. She bowed her head in shame. Her mum had enough on her head to worry about, Hitoka wasn’t planning on being another one of those problems.

“Sorry.” she said.

“If you want, I can take you to the village your father and I met. It’s beautiful, I’m sure the spring break will be enough to help you figure it all out.” her mother said softly.

Hitoka nodded, once.

 

Currently, Hitoka is sat in the car, her mum in the seat next to her’s driving her to the village. Neither of them is speaking, Hitoka is glad about this because she would much rather sit in silence than have to understand whatever is going on. Trees pass behind them, caging in on them as they drive further and further away from civilization. Honestly speaking, Hitoka is quite looking forward to this, it will give her time away from the loud cars, time to draw in peace. It will give her time to come to terms with this new (yet it’s not so new really) trait of hers.

Quicker than she expected, the car stops, her mum opens her own door after saying a quiet, “we’re here” then taking Hitoka’s bag out of the boot. They walk up the long drive - the garden looks beautiful, all the flowers blooming and one lone tree growing in the centre of it - up to the door. When the door opens, it reveals a small woman, possibly in her late sixties, with a long, earthy green dress on. Her hair, in a long plait over her shoulders, is brown turning to grey but her most prominent feature is the scar running from her under eye all the way to her collar - possibly farther still, but the dress doesn’t allow Hitoka to see much more.

“Madoka?” the woman asks, her thick eyebrows raising up in question. When Hitoka’s mum nods her head, the short lady slams the door shut, yanks the chain that’s keeping it shut off, and throws it back open. “I haven’t seen you in years! You stopped writing after what happened with Ryouta.” she gasps, arms wrapping around Hitoka’s mum’s shoulders. “What have you been up to?” she asks, genuine curiosity evident in her question. But Hitoka’s mum didn’t look at happy as she had a few seconds ago anymore, the mention of the man must have reminded her of something.

Hitoka’s mum goes into telling the lady everything, from how she worked for the horrible man Hitoka vaguely remembers to how she got her own business running. She then began talking about Hitoka and her ‘talents’ as she called them. She especially made sure to put full detail into the dragon Hitoka accidentally conjured just yesterday.

“My, oh my. Where are my manners?” the lady says in a soft way, “Hitoka, isn’t it? I’m sure you can’t remember me, it’s been fifteen years after all, I’m Kasumi.”

Hitoka politely shakes the lady’s (Kasumi-san’s) hand and bows lightly.

“I must say, I feel great power radiating from you, you will become a very powerful witch one day.”

As soon as those words come out of Kasumi-san’s mouth, Hitoka feels her eyes widen again. She’s ushered in by Kasumi-san and then the door falls shut behind her.

“You’re staying with us, aren’t you, Madoka?” Kasumi-san asks.

Her mum hesitates for a moment, work has always been more important for Hitoka’s mother, the money needed to keep coming in if Hitoka was to keep living how she lived. So when Hitoka’s mum nods minutely, just a little twitch of the head, Hitoka gapes. She was going to take a week off work. Fantastic. A once in a lifetime thing.

“Brilliant, let me take you up to your rooms then, you’re lucky we have two spare. After all my children have moved out only the cats take up space these days.” Kasumi-san says in a very matter-of-factly way.

Hitoka doesn’t quite understand why she needs a room to herself, the room she just passed had two beds in it and it looked plenty big to accommodate two people. It’s not like she would be spending much time in the room anyway.

As if sensing what runs through Hitoka’s mind, Kasumi-san turns to her, a huge grin splitting her face into two almost. “A young witch needs room to breathe. Also room to grow, I guess. But room to expand her talents is far more important than both of the previous two.”

She leads Hitoka to the very end room, the doors blocking it off from everything else are large and brown, they have strange carvings all over them but the one that stands out most is a small dragon in the middle of the top half of the door. It reminds her of the pale yellow dragon she dreamed of.

“Now this room, no one has been in this room in almost twenty years. It is a very special room, full of surprises. Don’t worry, your magic won’t hurt it. It’s been enchanted to make sure it withstands anything you can possibly think of...just maybe not a fully grown, physical dragon. Don’t go around making one of those in this room, it’s far too big to fit in.” Kasumi-san chuckles softly at her own joke. Hitoka would have chuckled, too, if it weren’t for the fact that Hitoka couldn’t control her magic yet.

The door creaks open, inviting Hitoka inside of it. Around the room, photos of a forest are strung up along the four walls, twenty on the left wall, nineteen on the right and thirty on the back wall (ten are on the wall she is standing with her back to). Near the back of the room, a large, queen sized bed stood with thick, fluffy blankets thrown over it, the bed frame is green while the blankets are white. As she steps farther in, the wooden floor creaking under the foreign pressure put on it, a wave of calm sweeps over her, knocking the breath out of her chest. Gold pours over her, the colour coming from the sunlit chandelier hanging above her head, four large petal-shaped pieces hang from every corner of the chandelier and a single light bulb is inside of it, except the bulb seems to be broken, the little parts inside of it crashed into pieces and pooling in the bottom of the bulb. It seems to be the only thing out of place within the whole room - apart from her that is, because she definitely does not belong in the room.

“Amazing, right?” Kasumi-san asks, smug look on her face. “Took a month to finish completely.”

“Ka - Kasumi-san,” Hitoka hesitates for a second, she stares around the room in amazement, she really shouldn’t be here. “Are - are you sure that - that _I_ should stay in this room? It looks far too expensive for someone like me to sleep in it.” Hitoka manages to say in a voice so soft that she isn’t sure even she heard it.

“Don’t be silly, child. A great room for a great witch!”

“But I don’t even know how to use my powers, it just happens sometimes. How can I be great if I can’t control it?” she asks panicked.

Kasumi-san gives her a soft smile, pats her on the back twice then says, “all great things come in time.” and walks out, shutting the heavy, oak door behind her.

Hitoka falls onto the bed with a soft thud, the blankets around her creasing under the weight put on top of them. She lies there for the rest of the short day, waiting for everything to make sense and for the puzzle pieces to finally come together. When she drifts off to sleep that night, her dreams are full of puzzle pieces running around her in circles, confusing her more than she thought possible. They grow larger and larger with every lap they make until they tower over her. From behind those puzzle pieces - or maybe it was from within them - comes out a girl, her hair the colour of liquorice and her eyes a soft grey, a mole on her chin. She’s walking, walking towards Hitoka with her hand stretching out, reaching towards her. Then she disappears, dissolves into thin air and when Hitoka wakes up, her body is hot, fire circling around her in a way it had once done to her four poster. The energy is seeping out of her with every passing second as the fire grows bigger that she doesn’t even have time to panic, she falls back to sleep and when she wakes up in the morning, properly this time, she thinks of the fire as a dream, except her shirt is burnt at the hem and she sees some ash on the bed once she gets up. But the bed is still immaculate, even after Hitoka laid on it, even after she burst into flames. Somehow, the bed still looks as if no one ever even breathed in its presence.

“How, on Earth-” she whispers while walking downstairs.

The distinct smell of eggs frying on the pan flutters towards her. Suddenly, as though summoned by the aroma, her stomach grumbles in protest. She last ate yesterday at lunch; it’s been quite some time since then.

“Morning,” Hitoka says whilst rubbing her eyes on the back of her hand. “I just had the most bizarre dream, you wouldn’t believe it even if I told you.” she whispers, voice just loud enough for her mum and Kasumi-san to hear.

“Why don’t you tell me about it later?” her mum asks, eyes cast down, focusing on her phone and just then, the phone rings, “I have to take this.” and she’s gone.

“I see something is bothering you, sweet pea.” Kasumi-san says in a very motherly way, a way Hitoka hadn’t heard in awhile.

Hitoka sighs, a soft, puff of air leaving her lungs and out her lips from -- from what exactly? Sadness? Exasperation? Fatigue? None of those seem to describe the way she is feeling, the way she has been feeling for the last ten years.

“You shouldn’t let whatever it is that’s bothering get to you, it could affect you in the long term. It’s much better to share with someone, let the other person try to help.” Kasumi-san says, face still turned towards the frying pan.

Hitoka walks away from the dining table, towards Kasumi-san and stops, “Would you like some help, Kasumi-san?” she asks quietly.

“Dear, the last time a child asked if I needed help was, blimey, almost thirty years ago! But I must kindly decline your polite offer, this week is not for you to be working, it is for you to be calming down, away from the constant rush of cars around you.” she stops, turns to look at Hitoka - Hitoka is sure that Kasumi-san sees something on her face when she turns to her because suddenly a look of sympathy takes over Kasumi-san’s features. “Actually, could you take out three plates, they’re just in that cupboard there,” she points to a far left cupboard with a dark brown, wooden door. “Set the table please, dear.”

Hitoka gladly does as she’s asked, she takes out the plates and puts them on the table, asks about the whereabouts of the cutlery, when Kasumi-san replies with a chuckle and says not to worry about that, Hitoka - although rather confused - sits in the chair facing away from the door to the kitchen.

“Now, why don’t you tell me about your bizarre dream.” Kasumi-san says excitedly.

As Hitoka begins to tell her all about it, from the puzzle pieces growing to the girl that strides out towards her, then to how she woke up in flames, she vaguely recognises her mother’s figure standing in the doorway, phone hanging by her side and a small smile on her face. She carries on her story, making sure to add details to how each individual piece looked, different pictures that seemed to not fit in any way together at all, and then the most peculiar thing happens, cutlery comes marching out of a drawer in lines of threes. They jump to the table and fall by the plates with such a racket that Hitoka just stops and stares.

“Oh, I told those stupid forks to be quiet! They just never seem to listen.” Kasumi-san’s soft look turns stern as se stares at the forks and knives.

“How curious!” Hitoka exclaims. “Did you - oh, what’s it called? - magic them to make them walk on their own?” Hitoka asks in excitement.

Kasumi-san laughs wholeheartedly at this, “Dear me, of course not! I have not the patience to train them into being of any use. I bought them from the shop down near the forest.” suddenly, Kasumi-san seems to be struck with a brilliant idea. “Oh, why don’t we take you down to the shop tonight? It opens after lunch so we can go and buy you some new things. Of course, the shop farther in the forest is much bigger and has a variety of different stuff, but we can go there another day, it’s been shut down due to a spider infestation. They always try to steal those bugs that silly old hag keeps behind the till: says they’re extremely rare. Anyway, the cleaners should be done with it by the end of the week, if you’re interested. That is, if your mother doesn’t mind.”

Both, Hitoka and Kasumi-san turn to Hitoka’s mum in question, Hitoka is sure her face is hopeful but she can’t bring herself to change it.

“I’m not sure,” her mum starts.

“Madoka! You must let her! How else will she learn! That is why you brought her here, after all, isn’t it?” Kasumi-san says sternly.

“But that old hag, she was ever so rude to me. I don’t think she likes me very much.” her mum supplies weakly.

Kasumi-san shakes her head, “Very well, you will stay home while Hitoka-chan and I go to the shop.”

And just like that, the subject was dropped, breakfast was served and Hitoka resumed her conversation with Kasumi-san.

 

The three of them arrive at the shop near the forest just a little bit after one in the afternoon. Hitoka had wanted to go earlier but they had to eat lunch first, then her mum lost her purse and spent twenty minutes looking for it. When they finally left the house twelve fourty had just gone and Hitoka was beginning to feel nervous and all throughout the thirty minute walk, she kept telling herself to calm down.

“Follow me, oh this will be such fun!” Kasumi-san says, clapping her hands together in excitement.

The shop is small, one storey tall and not much wider than three metres. It’s made of old wood, chipping at the corners. Burn marks are visible at the seam separating the roof from the rest of the building (the roof is simply made of straw - how the building is still standing is a miracle although, Hitoka thinks, magic is most likely involved). The building must be over a century old, moss growing from the left wall in spirals going up and up. Pushing the door open proves to be a bigger issue than Hitoka anticipated, it’s heavy. When Hitoka first pushed on it her hands were immediately met with dampness that soaked through her fingers rapidly. She keeps trying after that, forcing her whole body weight onto it and shoving in hopes that it would open.

“You pull the door, sweetie.” Kasumi-san says with a laugh.

Hitoka feels her face go crimson. “O-o-of course, I knew that.”

Both Kasumi-san and her mum laugh now, deep from the chest. She’s never, in her whole fifteen years of life, heard her mum laugh like that. When she finishes laughing, Hitoka is sure that her mum looks years younger. It’s as though all the troubles in her life have suddenly gone away and she was finally happy again.

Hitoka walks into the shop, eyes bright. The inside of the shop is very much like the outside, old, walls dressed in moss and made of wood, but the shop is no longer a small, three metre wide, one storey tall shop. It must be at least three storeys now, ten metres wide and nine metres long. _Magic_ , she thinks to herself. You never question magic.

Small display tables stand scattered around the floor, atop of them are different types of plants, bugs, teeth. Potions. This is all for potions. Against the walls, bookshelves are high, going from the first to the third floor with no problem at all. The books fill up every shelf there is, one book stands out especially. It’s a small book with a wooden spine on the very top shelf, covered by the other, larger books. She can’t read it from where she is but for some reason she can’t tear her eyes from it. It draws her attention in whenever she tries to look at the other books, some about keeping a garden pest free, others about health potions.

“Now, before we can do much else, we must exchange any money you want to use to gold. These witches in this area don’t like human money very much. Call it the money of the devil.” Kasumi-san whispers to Hitoka so no one, not even her mother, can hear. “Follow me.”

That’s just what Hitoka does. She follows Kasumi-san to the very back of the shop while her mum follows quietly behind them. Money is stacked up tall on this counter, looking like it will fall any second. It’s human money, Hitoka can tell.

“What can I do for you?” the man asks.

“Please can we have twenty gold pieces and fifty silvers?” Kasumi-san asks, thinking hard about what else she will ask. “Actually, scrap that. Twenty five gold pieces and fifty silvers.”

“Thirty thousand yen, please.” the man yawns.

“The exchange rate is getting more ridiculous each year! One say it’ll be seventy thousand yen for ten gold pieces!” Kasumi-san exclaims while taking money out of her bag to exchange.

“Kasumi-san, please, let me pay.” Hitoka’s mother quickly says.

Kasumi-san turns to her, grin on her face, “Madoka, you can pay me back one day, dear. For now I’m just happy I have my granddaughter back.”

Suddenly, everything becomes clear. Ryouta was her father. Kasumi-san was her grandmother. Of course she was. She should have noticed. Hitoka never realised that Kasumi-san was her grandmother, after all, Hitoka’s mum never told her anything about her father’s side of the family (which she probably should have mentioned that her father was a wizard.)

Kasumi-san seems to notice exactly what Hitoka is thinking, like she did this morning.

“No worries, dear. You don’t need to call me grandmother or anything, I understand it must be hard for you, not knowing any of these things till just a few days ago. I’m sure one day you will see me as who I am but until then, Kasumi-san is just fine!” her smile is still as bright as it was seconds ago, maybe even brighter. “Now, let’s go buy you some magical stuff!”

They grab a small basket and go to the potion ingredients.

“Now, depending on what potion you wish to make, you’ll need different ingredients. I have a book on potions at home so I can lend you that if you wish,” Hitoka nods, “Great! Let’s start small, something simple. Ah! The potion of hair growth! No? Don’t like that do you? Fine. Let’s see, let’s see. I wonder,” Kasumi-san gets a little twinkle in her eyes telling Hitoka something great is about to happen. “You’re a bright little girl, aren’t you. I wonder, I wonder. Yes. You can do it, I’m sure of it. A potion of intelligence! Ironic, since you have to be rather bright to make this potion correctly but you can do it!”

Kasumi-san starts to go through all the ingredients fast. She picks things up and either throws them into the basket or back on the table, so far, a few Dragon Scales, two Serpent’s Tongues, a bottle of Mulberry Tree Milk, a packet of sea slugs and one single eagle claw have all been placed inside the basket. Hitoka is about to tell Kasumi-san that she doesn’t feel comfortable using Dragon Scales for some strange reason when Kasumi-san turns to her and says, “The Dragon Scales are the scales the Dragon sheds, or they’re off a dead dragon, so don’t worry, both you and your little friend.”

Hitoka is confused for a second before she realises what Kasumi-san was talking about.

Behind her, once again coming out of her body, stood a tall silhouette of a dragon. Not a physical one, just a shadow. It was bright red this time, not the pale yellow she saw just a few days ago, it was towering over Kasumi-san, angry.

“C-calm d-down!” Hitoka stutters at the dragon. “N-none of your friends were hurt! I swear!” the dragon’s head aims down to look at her, it turn a soft pink and shrinks to a size where it can sit on her shoulder with no problem. “You’re not a shadow?” she asks, shocked at the weight she can feel on her shoulder.

“It’s not a shadow but it also isn’t a physical dragon yet, it’s in the inbetween right now. You have to get more powerful to make it physical.” Kasumi-san whispers, amazement in her voice, “But I’ve never seen, in my whole sixty seven years of living, a fifteen year old be able to conjure even just the essence of a dragon. You are one powerful witch, I’ll tell you that.”

Hitoka blushes, deep crimson, her dragon turning a bashful pink with her.

“Fantastic! It turns the colour of your emotions!” Kasumi-san claps happily, “That is so rare! I guess I shouldn’t buy you that crow I was thinking of getting you.” at those words, Hitoka’s dragon goes red again, anger bubbling throughout him so that even Hitoka can feel it, “Oh, calm down, dear, I was only kidding.”

“That wasn’t my emotion, he did it himself.” she says quickly.

“He? I guess you would know, he is a part of you, after all. But, he can feel on his own? At such an early stage? This is just fabulous!”

They spend the next few minutes discussing Hitoka’s dragon, how she can summon him, when it’s best to feed him, what to feed him and when exactly he needs to be washed. Kasumi-san makes sure to also include details on when he will begin to start forming into a physical dragon and how he will require special care. She decides to buy Hitoka a book all about taking care of dragons and then another one about conjuring a dragon.

“I guess I should get you this book as well,” she says whilst picking up a thick book, ‘ _Charms, Spells and Everything Else_ ’. “Oh, and a broomstick! You must learn to fly, it is so exhilarating!”

The basket is full by the time Kasumi-san asks if there is something Hitoka would like to buy herself, her eyes flicker towards the small book for no longer than a second but Kasumi-san notices, she looks in the same direction and her eyes widen, “That-that book. It hasn’t been seen in -- darling, do you want that book?”

“Yes, please.” Hitoka says in excitement.

“Alright, but you must take it yourself. I am too old for all those ladder steps.”

Hitoka looks up to see a long, silver ladder going up to the top shelf. Nerves fill up inside of her as she steps towards it but as soon as she touches it, she flies upwards, the steps only there for aesthetic purposes. Once she reaches the top, her feet smash into one of the higher steps and she holds on for dear life. Magic is going to kill her one day.

As she reaches to get the book, instead of touching the book, she touches a hand that belongs to a girl. She turns to say sorry when she sees the girl. Her hair is the colour of liquorice, eyes a pale grey that looks like a pond on a cold winter’s day. She has a mole on her chin and glasses that magnify the beauty of her eyes.

Before she really realises what’s happening, she’s falling backwards from the ladder to the floor. It’s going to be a crash landing. But the landing never comes, because she’s now floating inches from the floor, eyes clenched shut and voice still screaming in fear of death. The loudness slowly dies down to a quiet hum as she opens her eyes and sees the girl reaching out to help her up.

It’s the girl from the dream.

Did the girl from her dream just save her life?

Does she owe the girl her life now?

She’d gladly do anything if the girl just asked politely.

The slap she gives herself for those thoughts stings, it makes a loud noise at the impact of the two hands hitting her cheeks, the stinging helps her realise where she is: floating inches from the ground in a magical shop.

Quickly, she looks around in panic, she drops to the ground as she does so.

“Sorry, it takes a lot energy to lift a human in mid-air for a long period of time.” the girl says, her voice soft, calming and beautiful. Hitoka wonders whether she could play it at her funeral. But the thoughts are cut short when the girl - she’s still standing over her - crouches to be closer to Hitoka. “Come on, let me help you up.” her soft voice says again.

Hitoka jumps up, the proximity too close for her comfort, but as she jumps, she headbutts the girl so hard it send both of them reeling backwards.

“I’m so sorry!” she screams, bowing so low that her nose almost touches her dress.

Her dragon appears again, small enough to fit in Hitoka’s hand and a deep purple, his head hiding under his wing.

“No, no, no! That was my fault! I’m so sorry!” the girl says in response. “I forgot that you may not be comfortable with closeness! I’m so sorry.” she keeps on saying and Hitoka just feels her cheeks heat up further, she’s sure that there is fire forming on her hands and face.

“I’m Shimizu Kiyoko, and you?” the girl - Shimizu Kiyoko - asks, arm outstretched to shake Hitoka’s hand.

Hitoka looks up, her face still burning (people keep staring at the two of them which makes Hitoka feel even more stupid). She slowly raises her hand, the dragon jumping out of it and running up her arm to hide in her hair, to shake Shimizu Kiyoko’s hand when she notices the fire still staining her palm. Blowing on it doesn’t seem to help and as soon as she starts to panic again, the fire grows bigger. She can hear Kasumi-san saying ‘ _calm down_ ’ in her head so she tries to do that, tries to calm down. It proves harder in practice than in theory because Yachi Hitoka is known for panicking at the worst of times.

“It’s okay, I can neutralise that for you,” Shimizu Kiyoko says quietly, ice on her hand ready to shake Hitoka’s hand.

Hitoka looks between the hand and the girl and smiles brightly, shakes her hand then stutters a loud, “Yachi Hitoka!” and bows again.

She can hear people around her whisper the name “Yachi” over and over but she can’t bring herself to care at this point in time. She was shaking hands with a beautiful lady named Shimizu Kiyoko.

“Nice to meet you, Hitoka-chan.” she bows, “I’ll let you have the book. Goodbye.”

The first thing Hitoka notices when Shimizu Kiyoko walks away is the long black skirt that sways with her every step, a long slit down its side that shows off her long, slender legs. The second thing is probably what actually matters, all around her stand people all asking if she is the daughter of Yachi Ryouta, the man who ‘saved multiple lives’.

She can’t do much answering because Kasumi-san tells them to leave her granddaughter alone, they all burst into loud cheering and Kasumi-san tells her to get the book and come back because they are paying. The total of all the books and the ingredients for the potions, the broomstick and her wand all add up to eleven gold pieces and four silvers. When Hitoka tried to calculate how much that was in yen, Kasumi-san called her over to choose some snacks she would like to buy to eat later. They’re all named weirdly, most likely witch and wizard snacks, she thinks as she chooses a bunch of them.

While they’re walking back to Kasumi-san’s house, Hitoka nibbling on some snack called _‘Jaw glue’_ which is an accurate name, she can’t open her mouth much more than how was opened the time the glue set, Hitoka thinks of Shimizu Kiyoko. The girl was tall, most likely older than Hitoka by a few years, there was something about her that made Hitoka feel calm, feel safe.

“Hitoka!” Hitoka jumps in surprise, she wasn’t paying any mind to the conversation going on.

She makes a noise since the ‘ _Jaw Glue_ ’ stuck her jaw together and she couldn’t form any words.

“Oh dear me!” Kasumi-san laughs, “You took the Jaw Glue! Priceless, I’m telling you!” she carries on laughing for a few minutes before finally saying, “Do you want to find out more about your father?” she asks Hitoka after a moment.

Hitoka stops walking. Does she want that? Does she really want to find out about her father? Wouldn’t it just hurt more in the end if she finds out something tragic? But maybe she will find something important out, maybe she’ll be able to finally disregard all the rumours she’s heard throughout her life.

Kasumi-san stopped walking, too. She is stood next to Hitoka, about to say something but Hitoka has had enough. She doesn’t want Kasumi-san to keep going through her mind and finding the answer for herself. So Hitoka nods in affirmation. She wants to find out about her father.

 

“Here he is,” Kasumi-san is currently pointing at a tall, blond man in a suit with a grin so wide it must hurt. He’s waving at someone behind the camera, possibly a friend, maybe a relative. “This was when he first met your mother, what a beautiful scenario it was: straight from a fairy tale, I’m telling you!” her eyes are soft, a pinch of sadness clear with how her eyes sparkle. “He was a great man, died a very young and unexpected death but still great.” the two of them flick through the pictures slowly while Kasumi-san carries on telling stories.

“I remember one time when he was around your age, he walked alone into the forest at night to find his missing dog, came back out with a scar on his arm, ripped clothes and old Maki in his arms.

“He always told me how he wished to become a hero one day, save the world and stories like that, then, one day, a group of these huge trolls stormed into our village - they destroyed all our crops! - and he fought them off. A true idol around these parts. Unfortunately, he didn’t kill one of the trolls, it got away and brought back an army. We didn’t stand a chance, but your father, he tried so hard to fight them, he broke several bones in that battle, but he ended victorious. Then you came.

“It looked like he saw an angel when he first looked at you, so full of love and compassion. He made me wish I still had babies. Of course, I didn’t have anyone after my last child - your uncle, he’s in his thirties now - but the sheer love he had for you was so powerful it made you wonder how anything so pure could still exist in our world.” Kasumi-san laughs bitterly, Hitoka sits quietly, listening closely as to not miss any important details.

“He didn’t know it would happen. He was so sure everything was going perfect. Then the council found out about his secret enchantments of human products - not like my cutlery, those were made by a wizard, he would buy man made objects and enchant them - and the council takes this very seriously. They -- they invaded your home, dragged him from his bed and took him to our court. They were meant to throw him into prison for a few weeks, that was meant to be all. But one of the world’s most dangerous wizards escaped the day of his arrival, he got killed with the world’s most awful spell for just standing in his way. He died a slow, painful death. But they never found his murderer again, stopped looking after a few days. Said it was pointless.”

Hitoka hadn’t realised she was crying until she felt the warm tears puddling in her dress, forming little raindrops here and there in the fabric. Her father had been murdered. Simply because he was in a place he wasn’t supposed to be at a time that wasn’t right. The man, the killer, didn’t kill for any particular reason, he just did it for the sake of it. Just because he could do it.

“That’s awful! I can’t bare to think what that must have felt like!” Hitoka exclaims, tears still thundering into her dress.

“Awful. Yes, I guess it was awful. I lost my son, my child. Our village lost all hope even when the trolls never came back, they were all so devastated by the loss.” it’s strange seeing Kasumi-san look so sad, even after only one day of knowing her, she is so used to the happy, upbeat personality that Kasumi-san always brings everywhere she goes that she forgot people aren’t always going to be happy. She forgot that sometimes, people force themselves to smile.

“Kasumi-san, I’m--”

“Nevertheless, my dear granddaughter, he was a great man, not a perfect one - we all have our flaws - but a _great_ man.”

Hitoka, in a spur of emotions, jumps out of her seat and wraps her arms around Kasumi-san’s neck. “Thank you ever so much, Kasumi-san!” her arms wrap tighter around Kasumi-san’s neck, she’s trying to preserve the moment for as long as she can.

“It was my pleasure, pumpkin.” Kasumi-san says softly, unlike every other time she spoke. It’s the kind of soft that is used to preserve a moment for as long as possible. The kind of soft that is used to guarantee the atmosphere isn’t disturbed.

“You remind me of your father so much.” Kasumi-san says after she pulls away, tears wiped on her sleeve. “Your smile, and eyes are his, you know. Every time I look at you I picture little Ryouta waddling around the room as a kid, smiling and screaming ‘momma, momma!’.” she sighs. “Get up to your room, start reading your books, you have a lot to do before school starts, all this training.”

So Hitoka goes upstairs, she sits on the bed that is temporarily hers and that can apparently make itself, she throws all her books on the bed then sits in the middle of all of them. Amongst them is the large, thick, small book. The writing on it reads ‘ _Seeing the Future: what your dreams really mean_ ’ and Hitoka is almost one hundred percent positive that she wasn’t supposed to buy this book.

“Kasumi-san!” she calls from the doorframe, when Kasumi-san replies a short ‘what’s wrong, darling?’ Hitoka asks about the book, all Kasumi-san replies to that with is a chuckle and a quick ‘greatness comes with time!’

Hitoka isn’t sure what’s worse: not knowing what to make of Kasumi-san’s response or not knowing why the small book stood out to her. In the end, both are probably just as bad as each other.

She reads for the rest of the day, alternating between books after each chapter so she’s up to date on everything. Sleep doesn’t catch her till the early morning, once again, dinner was skipped and instead she nibbled on her snacks while reading but when she finally does sleep - long past midnight - she dreams of two dragons, both in the inbetween of a shadow and a physical dragon. The second dragon is much larger than the first one, more wise. It stands tall and proud over smaller one, not in an intimidating way but rather in a comforting way. Warmth spreads across the scene, the background growing from just a black screen to a garden, maybe it’s a park. Little flowers freckle over trees as they bloom, the dragons growing with them. They sit in silence, not even the wind is breathing. They sit.

Hitoka wakes up in the morning, her dragon lying by her feet, his facial features now visible. When reaches over to touch it and quickly realises that he has become more solid. “Oh, my God!” she breathes. Her dragon is growing.

“Come on! We have to feed you!” without waiting for the dragon to fully wake up, she runs out of the room, her dragon running after her, held on by just one arm this time.

“Hello, Hito- Oh, my goodness!” Kasumi-san says when she sees the dragon’s eyes.

“He’s growing! I have to get him some berries! I read that dragons at such an early stage can’t eat anything other than fruit!” Hitoka runs out of the kitchen into the back garden, her dragon following her.

She picks off some berries for his breakfast then rushes back into the house, “Can he eat with us?” she asks, hopeful.

“Of course he can! He’s family!” at that the dragon wags his tail like a puppy. “Have you named him yet?” Kasumi-san asks. “He’s ready for a name now.”

Hitoka thinks for a while before she chooses to call her dragon “Atsusuke.”

“It works so well! He’s warm and he always tries to help me! A perfect name for him.” Hitoka says when Kasumi-san asks why such a name.

 

She walks out of the house at three in the afternoon, Atsusuke walking slowly by her side. Not really sure where she’s going yet, she let’s Atsu lead her. They walk aimlessly until they get to a wide river separating where they stand and the forest on the other side.

“Do you want to go in the forest?” Hitoka asks Atsu who just jumps in excitement at the idea. “Good, because I do, too.”

They find a little bridge that allows them to cross the river and walk farther into the forest, past the large trees, past the wild animals and into what can only be described as the forest heart. Another dragon sits in the middle of the heart, back facing Hitoka and Atsu.

“H-hello?” Hitoka says, nerves seeping through her every word.

A girl jumps out from behind the dragon, tall and slender, her hair tied back in a pony tail. She’s also turned away from Hitoka but Hitoka can see enough to tell that she’s a little older than Hitoka is. When the girl turns around to face Hitoka, Hitoka’s heart skips a beat. It’s Shimizu Kiyoko. Her shoulder length black hair tied up today, legs covered by jogging bottoms.

“Oh, Hitoka-chan.” she says, hand rubbing at the back of her neck in a shy way while a small smile spreads on her face.

“Shimizu Kiyoko!” Hitoka says loudly.

“Call me Kiyoko.” she says, smile still present.

“Kiyoko-san!” Hitoka corrects earning herself a shy laugh from the girl.

“I see you also have a dragon,” Kiyoko-san says, pointing to Atsusuke.

“Oh, yes. Atsusuke is rather young still, though.” Hitoka says while fiddling with the bottom of her skirt.

“Mine isn’t too old either. Asumi only just grew facial features today, after all.”

“Really! Atsu did, too!” Hitoka says happily.

Kiyoko invites her to sit next to her on the patch of grass, the two dragons sitting side by side, too. They spend most of the time discussing about their dragons, Hitoka giving information about the food that they can eat at this stage and about how often they must bathe. Kiyoko sits through it all, listening intently and possibly taking notes in her head. Occasionally, Kiyoko makes a joke that has Hitoka laughing hysterically but other than that the conversation is very relaxed. Hitoka is honestly quite surprised that she actually had the nerve to speak to such a beautiful Goddess. There are times, however, where Hitoka completely ignores what Kiyoko is saying, instead focusing on her gorgeous features. But then the moon shines over them, the only indicator of what time it is. They spent a good four hours just talking on the forest ground, dragons play fighting with each other and blushes deepening with every compliment. Hitoka will forever remember how beautiful Kiyoko looked when Hitoka complimented her knowledge of potions and the other got very bashful.

They walk together to the river, only saying goodbye when Kiyoko turns into the street they walk past while Hitoka keeps walking down the road.

It’s then that what just happened catches up with her.

She just spent four hours talking to the most beautiful woman she has ever seen in her life. Four whole hours sat together doing absolutely nothing apart from talking. Luckily, Atsu found some berries he could eat while Hitoka and Kiyoko carried on rambling about being a witch and still going to school (Kiyoko is two years older than her, going into her third year at the end of these holidays, her birthday is in January and she really likes tensumu despite how rarely she gets to eat them).

When she gets back to the house she throws herself onto the sofa, Atsu right behind her. They both sigh deeply, Atsu a lovely pink shade.

“What’s the matter with you?” her mum asks as she tries to budge both Hitoka and Atsu to one side of the sofa.

She gives up when she realises it was a fruitless attempt.

“I think I just met the woman of my dreams.” Hitoka sighs again, in response to her mum.

“Oh, God. Kasumi-kun! You were right, she was with that Shimizu kid.” her mum groans, Kasumi-san laughs from the kitchen.

“Wait,” she raises her upper body just enough to look at her mum, “you guys were talking about me?” her mum nods, “That’s so rude!”

“What was she like, anyway?” her mum asks.

Hitoka smiles again, falling back into the sofa. “She’s fantastic! She also has a dragon. She’s two years older. She’s so good with potions! It’s kind of her thing. She likes to run, but she doesn’t do it as a club anymore because of her magic. Oh, my God, mum, do you know how freaking cute she is? When she smiles, her eyes crinkle in the cutest way ever and the way she laughs when i say something funny is so --”

Hitoka carries on rambling about Kiyoko like this for a good ten minutes, she doesn’t notice how her mum smiles at the passion in her voice or how Kasumi-san whips out the camera to record her ramblings.

“I can die happy now!” Hitoka finishes.

Hitoka’s mum straightens up, her arm lifting from the back of the sofa to look at her daughter.

“Make sure to write down her contact detail when we leave, I wouldn’t want you to get sad when you can’t talk to her anymore.” her mum says

“Oh no! What if I don’t see her every again?!” Hitoka says in panic.

Kasumi-san sits in the armchair at that moment and says all-knowingly, “I’m sure you will see her.”

And she was right, because the next day, when Hitoka walks with Atsu to the patch of grass again, that’s where Kiyoko is sat, writing in a notebook - Hitoka should bring her notebook next time to draw Kiyoko, Atsu and Asumi. Maybe she’ll add the forest backdrop, too, if she has time.

“Hello, Kiyoko-san.” Hitoka greets as she sits down next to her.

Kiyoko startles, looks up at Hitoka in surprise but then her expression softens when she sees Hitoka.

“Here,” Kiyoko says, handing Hitoka her contact info. Instead of seeing a phone number or anything of the sorts, she sees an address.

“I don’t know whether you have a messagekree but I’m sure you can buy one at the shop in the forest, it reopens soon. It’s the only way I can talk to you, do if you get one, just type this address in first, then simply write a letter, place it inside and wait a few seconds, it should deliver right to my house. It looks like a little cauldron but you need to put this special powder in it that, when activated, creates a green cloud out of it. I’m sure your grandmother will gladly help you use it.” Kiyoko says, a soft pink blush spreading through her cheeks.

“Okay, thank you!” Hitoka hides the address into her pocket.

The rest of the day is spent walking around the forest, this time. They see squirrels and badgers. They see a crow fight a snake - the crow wins - and two lost horses trying to get back to their owners.

When she gets back later that night she asks Kasumi-san about the messagekree saying all about how Kiyoko gave her her contact details without Hitoka having to even ask.

“Ah, yes, the messagekree, I remember when they just came in, just one model. Now there’s at least twenty and the newest one is ten gold pieces all on its own. You don’t mind if we get you the older model, do you? It still works the same, just easier for such an old soul like me to work and help you understand.”

Hitoka quickly nods, “I honestly don’t mind what model! I just really want to talk to Kiyoko-san.”

Kasumi-san laughs, says she reminds her of her father and then shoos her upstairs to her room.

She keeps using the term “your room” and Hitoka doesn’t know what to make of it.

This night, her dreams consist of sparkling stars shining down on two girls. The weather is just below average and one girl rubs her hands up and down her arms to warm them up while the other looks down at her, amusement clear in the way she raises her eyebrows. The scene is accompanied by leaves falling around them in spirals, the wind picking them up then throwing them back down. Suddenly, music starts, a slow, low buzz of sound that isn’t clear enough to distinguish from anything else, but it is clear that it’s music. Smoke comes up from the side, coloured in pinks and yellows and it circles around the two girls, pushing them closer and closer until they are one hair away from each other. The music stops, the only sound now being from the crickets and the nocturnal wildlife. They come closer and closer, every second seems to drag on more and more until their lips press together and everything around them stops.

 

She’s woken up by Atsu roaring, flames diving around the room. Her eyes open wide when she sees that Atsu is now the size of a young dragon with a real, physical body. He is no longer attached to Hitoka.

She isn’t sure how he keeps escaping from her, she doesn’t try for it to happen but she figures what does she have to lose.

“Atsu, okay, listen to me. I’ll try to do something which I don’t know if it’ll work but I have to have it under control before school starts, okay?” she asks Atsu slowly.

Atsu replies with a tail wag and more flames - Hitoka smiles at the little dragon.

“Okay, Atsu, come back!” she calls out, but nothing happens, Atsu tilts his head to the right, confusion written all over his features.

“One second,” she says as she pulls out her ‘ _DRAGONS_ ’ book.

She flips to the conjuring section, skims through it and stops when she finds what she wants.

“We have to have perfect trust for this to work, Atsu. Do you not trust me?” but Atsu just looks even more confused now.

It must be her who doesn’t trust the dragon completely, but why is that? She calls Atsu over to sit on her lap, he does as he’s told. “Good boy,” she says happily. “I trust you, Atsu, do you trust me?” she asks seriously. Atsu looks her in the eyes. The strangest thing happens yet, he says, “ _Of course I do_.”

Quickly, she flips through the pages of her book then reads a passage about telepathy:

 _Once you and your dragon strengthen your connection, the dragon_ __  
_will be able to communicate with you through telepathy. It often_ __  
_takes years, even for the wisest of wizards to reach such a_ __  
_connection. Of course, being able to conjure a dragon is_  
much too  _rare to have any proper statistics on the topic._  


“Woah.” Hitoka breathes.

When she walks downstairs and Kasumi-san sees the dragon in physical form, loud cheers and squeals erupt from her waking her mum up, who also joins in with the screaming.

“Calm down! Atsu will get scared!”  Hitoka says while laughing. But Atsu doesn’t get scared, instead he starts jumping around as well, flames coming out of his mouth.

“Atsu! No! Oh my God!” Hitoka shouts in panic but Kasumi-san laughs again.

“He’s too young to make a real fire, this is just like a warm breeze,” she explains to Hitoka who is sure she’s seen heaven because she just died a little.

“Just, one second let me just sit down for a while.” Hitoka says as she begins tofeel faint. “I, I thought you were going to get burnt and turned into a huge blister!”

Kasumi-san and Hitoka’s mum carry on laughing at Hitoka even after breakfast finishes. She’s pretty sure they’re only doing it at this point just to spite her but Hitoka won’t make them stop if it means that her mum gets to look like a younger, happier version of herself.

Once she heads back upstairs she gets dressed, washes herself, brushes her hair etcetera before sitting in her bed again. Reading the books she bought makes time fly much faster than it would otherwise and soon enough, it’s time for lunch. She quickly eats it, making sure not to get her white and pink dress dirty, then rushes back to her room. Occasionally she will throw Atsu a few berries (and now raw eggs) to munch on while she still tries to learn about the extent of her powers. At quarter past two, Atsu reminds Hitoka to go out with him. She quickly grabs her sketchpad and pencil case then heads to the forest.

“Kiyoko-san!” she exclaims from afar, Kiyoko a few metres ahead of her.

Kiyoko stops when she hears Hitoka’s voice, her eyes glistening with content in the afternoon sun. Once Hitoka catches up with her, they resume walking and head to the patch of grass to sit down.

“How has your day been, Hitoka-chan?” Kiyoko asks as the get closer to the patch of grass.

“Great, Atsu is physical now!” Hitoka exclaims.

When Kiyoko says that Asumi is also physical, Hitoka gets a strange feeling that maybe the coincidences aren’t just that, but she pushes that thought to the back, instead focusing on how Kiyoko was wearing a beautiful dress of a navy blue with a thin brown belt wrapping around her waist. Spectacular.

They sit down, dragons keeping them safe from any threats as they circle around their bodies, sleeping. Hitoka has her sketchbook out, she’s drawing Kiyoko with Asumi, they look so happy together. Like anything that happens, no matter how bad, is okay and can be dealt with easily. This, Hitoka thinks, is what perfect trust between a dragon and it’s witch looks like. Perfect harmony, perfect sync. They fit so well together that Hitoka wonders if her and Atsu will ever reach that kind of connection.

“ _Hitoka, I can hear you. Don’t doubt me or I will lose trust in you._ ” Atsu says to her through telepathy.

“Sorry,” she whispers back to him.

They spend a long time sitting in silence, Hitoka drawing and Kiyoko reading her book on telekinesis. Hitoka wonders whether this is was her future will look like, peaceful nights with the love of her life while they both do separate things in the same room and together because when else would they find time to spend together while not doing anything?

“It’s getting dark,” Kiyoko says, getting ready to stand up.

“Wait!” Hitoka shouts. “I-I’m almost done, I swear. Just, give me two more minutes, please.” Kiyoko nods her head, settling back in her old position.

“Okay, done.” she says smiling.

Kiyoko stretches once she gets up. “Let me see it.” Kiyoko tells Hitoka.

“I don’t know.” Hitoka replies, embarrassed.

“Oh, come on. Please?” Kiyoko asks again and this time Hitoka can’t say no, not when Kiyoko is giving her this face.

“Oh, fine then.” she groans.

For a minute, a long, agonizing sixty seconds, Kiyoko is silent. Her eyes scanning the page analytically. When she looks up, Hitoka expects to see disgust or horror but instead is met with the kindest smile Hitoka has ever seen in her existence. ‘ _Oh help me Jesus_ ’ she thinks.

“It’s beautiful. You made me look much better than I really do look,” Kiyoko looks bashful, Hitoka wishes she could capture this moment and treasure it forever.

“D-do you want to keep it?” Hitoka asks quickly.

“Are you sure?” Kiyoko asks.

“I can send a copy of it to you through the messagekree.” she lowers her head, her cheeks are a bright shade of red.

“That’d be lovely, thank you.” Kiyoko’s smile seems to brighten the entire forest.

As they set off on their way to their respective houses, Kiyoko stops Hitoka from going much farther than where Kiyoko often turns to go a separate way.

“I’m--erm, I, I will miss you, Hitoka-chan.” it seems that a thousand knives have stabbed and penetrated her heart. Kiyoko-san said she will miss her.

“M-m-m-me t-too!” Hitoka shouts loudly bowing and just missing Kiyoko’s forehead by a centimetre.

 

“Have you packed everything?” her mum asks the next day.

“Yes, but mum, I don’t know how to fit the messagekree into the car.” Hitoka says.

The messagekree is much larger than she thought it would be and as a result of that, she is having problems with taking it home with her.

“Shove it in the back seat, under you feet, maybe? I don’t know. Your grandma just had to buy the largest model, didn’t she?” Hitoka’s mum asks in a sarcastic way.

After a while, everything is packed, they are ready to go.

“Oh, I will miss you, sweet pea.” Kasumi-san says to her as she gets in the car, she hugs her and gives her a big sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“I will miss you, too, granny.” Hitoka says.

Her grandmother’s eyes widen by a fraction and her cheeks go a ruby colour.

“Make sure to come back soon!” she calls to them as they begin to drive away.

It’s quiet in the car once they get on the main road, only noise being the engine. Hitoka wants to just relish in whatever is left of the week, her mum knows that. They pass trees, a forest and two shops before Hitoka’s mother says anything.

“You know, I am ever so proud of you, you managed to conjure a real dragon, learn to control your powers better and meet love, all in one week. I’m also very proud that you didn’t freak out at the news. I’m sure it must have been hard for you to find this out all at once.” a small smile plays at her mum’s lips.

“Thank you, but, just to let you know, I was freaking out. I’m pretty sure that the day before we left to go here I was drawing ten pictures an hour from all the panic I was feeling.” Hitoka chuckles, her mum joining in.

“Shall we come back this summer? We can write to your grandma through the messagekree to ask her but I’m sure she’ll say yes anyway. That woman loves you.” Hitoka’s eyes light up at the mention of going back. If it’s in the summer that means that it’s going to be a longer stay.

“Okay, that settles it, I’ll give you the address at home.”

When they do get home, the first thing Hitoka does is photocopy the drawing she promised to send Kiyoko, she then sets the messagekree up in her room, pours a bit of the powder into it and activates it. On the back of the drawing she write, in all caps “WE’RE COMING BACK THIS SUMMER” then under it her address, “just in case it doesn’t tell you.”

She then sends a message to her grandma, “Mum says to ask if we can come for the summer, but I already promised Kiyoko-san :p”

Her grandma’s reply is pretty immediate, “You don’t have to ask, pumpkin.”


End file.
